The 谢 surname

Xie (谢) is one of the surnames of Taishan. As early as the Qing dynasty, Xie clansmen living scattered in Taishan compiled a family record, but none of the sources seen so far states their first migrant ancestor, when they came, or where they lived.^[1]

Origin of the surname[edit]

There are two accounts of the origin of the Xie surname. All the reconstructed editions of the Book of Origins (《世本》) record Xie as a state of the Ren (任) surname, the Ren being descendants of the Yellow Emperor; the Tang-dynasty Yuanhe Compendium of Surnames (《元和姓纂》), on the other hand, says that King Xuan of Zhou enfeoffed his maternal uncle Shen Bo (申伯) at Xie and that his descendants took Xie as their surname, and many later Xie genealogies honor Shen Bo as the progenitor of the surname. The Xie of Chen Commandery (陈郡) in the Eastern Jin were the most famous Xie clan in history.^[2]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

One genealogical record connected with the Taishan Xie appears in catalogs: the Supplemented Records of Dongshan (《增补东山志》), in two juan, compiled by Xie Jingqing (谢镜清) in the Qing dynasty, a block-printed edition of the 21st year of Guangxu of the Qing (1895) in two volumes. It gives a brief account of the Xie family through the ages and honors Shen Bo of the Zhou as the progenitor of the surname, and the places where the family lives scattered are recorded as Taishan County, Guangdong, and elsewhere.^[1]

How the Xie came to Taishan and where they live is yet to be added. Family members who know more are welcome to edit this article.